


The Past We Ran From and The Future We Build Together

by MitsubachiAria



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Both Platonic and Romantic Soulmates to be clear, F/F, M/M, Moving to the Countryside, Platonic Soulmates, Post-Game, Recovery, Red String of Fate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-20 21:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30010944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MitsubachiAria/pseuds/MitsubachiAria
Summary: For Saiouma Pit White Day Event Prompt 3: Soulmates/Post-GameAfter escaping the killing game, Shuichi, Himiko, and Maki retire to a quiet village far, far away from anyone who could possibly recognize them. They think they're safe to finally recover, at least until a mysterious package arrives for Shuichi with no known sender.
Relationships: Chabashira Tenko/Yumeno Himiko, Harukawa Maki & Saihara Shuichi & Yumeno Himiko, Mentioned Maki/Girl from the orphanage, Mentioned Maki/Kaito, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 28
Collections: Saiouma Pit White Day 2021 Collection: Day 3: Soulmates AND/OR Post-Game





	The Past We Ran From and The Future We Build Together

**Author's Note:**

> This was gonna be a oneshot until I realized it was gonna be long as shit if I did it as a oneshot. So, I'm estimating 2 or 3 chapters, not sure yet. Just keep bothering me to actually finish this one, okay?

When Shuichi finally left that sick killing game for good, he could finally see the red string of fate tied around his finger had snapped and turned grey. He knew what that meant- he’d met his soulmate and they’d perished. And, the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that he’d watched them perish in the killing game. 

Maybe he’d watched them be strangled and crushed, or get shot down into the earth, or eaten by piranhas, or outright explode. But, he had a feeling that his soulmate had been the one reduced to a splatter of pink goo on the hydraulic press. Your soulmate was supposed to be the person who you resonated with, the one who you were entranced by, and that could be none other than Kokichi Ouma. They had entranced each other, after all, and the world without him was as grey as the string severed around his pinky. 

The hush money they were given to not pursue a legal battle by what was left of Team Danganronpa, on top of the prize money for “winning” was more than enough to live comfortably indefinitely, but it could never even begin to make up for the harm inflicted on the three of them. Shuichi never asked, but the ways they looked so mournfully down at their hands sometimes, he was certain Himiko and Maki had also lost their soulmates to the game. 

None of them wanted anything more to do with this world which Tsumugi had adored so dearly. It hurt so badly to be recognized, to be bombarded with questions or worse, asked for interviews and autographs. The only move that made sense was to live far away from the cities and bright lights and television signals, to retreat into some old forgotten village where barely anyone had internet or even television. Wherever was the farthest from prying eyes was where they wanted to go. 

Shuichi was relieved that the other two survivors wanted to stick together as well. He hated the idea of being alone with his thoughts, and the movements and chatter of two other people suffering as he was would be able to keep that at bay. Himiko’s only request was for them to have chickens, and Maki’s that they have a garden. So, Shuichi, with great reluctance, consulted the internet to find the most distant farming village with the fewest people online from there, and finally found a suitable place to settle down. 

There wasn’t much for them to pack. A tattered jacket, a green hair bow, a necklace with a shell pendant, a hairpin, a checkered scarf- those were the only keepsakes worth holding close. They hastily bought some clothes suitable for working outside, some old books with minimal murder, a record player and some records, and as Himiko insisted, some little chicks to bring to their new home. After much argument, they also agreed to buy a singular cell phone they’d keep locked up in a safe, just in case of emergencies. 

Most of their neighbors were confused as to why a trio of young adults would be moving in together in the middle of nowhere. All of them gave a different story. Shuichi told them they were siblings whose parents had died and grandparents had left them land and a small house. Himiko claimed with a playful smirk they were starting a polyamorous commune. Maki just said they all hated the city. They all knew their lies weren’t believed, but people were kind enough, or perhaps just confused enough not to press further. 

It took some getting used to, the intense quiet of it all. Shuichi started leaving records on as he fell asleep just so his tiredness wouldn’t be drowned out by panicked thoughts and images of bright pink splatters dancing behind his closed eyelids. Books beside his bedside table started piling up, and he began searching for more books and more records at the few little shops in town, gathering quite a collection to occupy his idle hands. 

He had a feeling Himiko hated the silence just as much because she brought home a kitten she said one of the ladies at the farmer’s market had been trying to find a home for. Maki almost suggested the name Ryoma for him before correcting herself and offering the name Mousetrap instead. Himiko settled on the name Tora, but despite the ferocity of both proposed names, Tora ended up being a spoiled and lazy housecat who rarely left Himiko’s lap. 

Maki’s way of coping seemed to be in creating things. A week into their new life, she brought home a basket of yarn and some knitting needles and began to teach herself how to knit. It was clumsy at first, and Shuichi found himself having to restock their first aid kit within the month just from patching up Maki’s self-inflicted injuries from trying to figure out how it actually worked. But, Maki found a book on the subject, and then a nice older woman who lived down the street and was happy to teach her more practically, and she finally got the hang of it. She nearly cried tears of joy when her first scarf was complete- and out of frustration when Tora decided the scarf was his new favorite toy. 

It was a peaceful life. The plants grew, the chickens started laying eggs, they planted mint to keep out the rodents Tora had no interest in chasing, and they became part of a peaceful little community far removed from Danganronpa. Some days, Shuichi almost could forget about the real fiction that ruined his life. But, that severed string was always there when he looked down, a manifestation of all that had been taken from him. Some days, all it took was reading the word despair in a book, or realizing that song Kaito-as-Kokichi had sung in the Exisal was on one of the records he bought to break down crying. 

Still, he really thought it was getting to be behind the three of them. Sure, he wouldn’t buy any classical music records in case one of Kaede’s favorite pieces was on it, Himiko wouldn’t walk by the playground with the seesaw, and Maki ran like she’d seen a spider when a little kid came up to her at the farmer’s market to tell her that her dress was pretty, but they were all definitely doing better! But, then one day, a heavy manilla envelope addressed to him arrived in the mail. 

\------------------------

Himiko called him in the living room when she got back from getting the mail that day, looking oddly pale. She handed it to him without a word. “Sh-should we burn it?”

Shuichi took a closer look. No name of who it was from, but the return address was out of town. That alone wasn’t a good sign, but he thought it might be the bill for that phone they’d signed up for in case of emergency. “...I better open it,” he sighed. “In case it’s taxes or something.”

He sat down at the kitchen table and felt Tora rub up against his legs as he reached for the pretty letter opener Maki had found at a secondhand store. It felt like a shame to use it for such a grim task, but they so rarely got letters anyhow, so it would be a shame to not use it too. The contents spilled out- a stapled together handwritten booklet with a note wrapped around it. 

How strange… His breath caught as he pulled the letter off the booklet and noticed the handwriting- his own, unmistakably. All the characters curved the same odd ways and were slightly smudged. But, the words were something he couldn’t remember ever writing. 

_ To Shuichi Saihara- _

_ I didn’t know when I signed up that we might not remember the past after we get out. So, just in case, I made sure to write down everything you’d need to remember here. Hopefully you’ll never read this, but you should know all about my (our?) beloved! I’m sure he’ll be right beside you when you come back, so make sure you spoil him as much as he deserves with all the prize money! He’s so soft and sweet and wonderful, and the world’s been far too cruel to him. Even if I forget everything, doing this will be worth it to be able to give him the life he deserves.  _

_ Hold Bonbon tight for me, okay? _

_ -Ichigo Aoba _

Bile rose up in his mouth. So there really had been another him before all this? This was the truth Tsumugi unleashed upon them? But, if this was the truth, that audition tape couldn’t be real, because this… Ichigo’s motivations were to give someone a happy life. Someone… oh. Shit. 

The red string of fate being severed must have been between Ichigo and this Bonbon person. Maybe he was okay, though? Maybe it was just broken because Ichigo had “died”, not because Bonbon was dead? Yeah, yeah! Maybe he could use this to find Ichigo’s precious one, just as he would have wanted! 

Opening the included booklet, self titled “Caring for my Precious Bonbon” with a multitude of drawings of strawberries and candies on the front, he found himself rolling his eyes a bit. His past self was certainly a lot more… cutesy than what he’d become. The booklet naturally opened to a page with a Polaroid photo taped into it, and…

His heart stopped. Oh, poor Ichigo, and poor Shuichi, for the little bit of remaining hope his soulmate still existed was all but completely gone. The picture was so, so clearly of Kokichi, but a different version of him labeled “My Beautiful Botan ♡”. His eyes were green and his hair was dark brown, and his face was covered in freckles and hidden by thick glasses, but he was still unmistakable. 

Arrows covered much of the picture, pointing to different parts of him with labels explaining why that part of him was perfect. His eyes were labeled “so beautiful, I wanna stare into them forever!” and his hair “I love how it curls up when he messes with it so much,” but what really got him was a series of pink hearts done in highlighter. 

A note on the opposite page claimed the pink hearts were for “the best places to kiss my precious darling,” with extras around his neck, lips, cheeks, and forehead. Shuichi felt his cheeks heat up and his eyes burn. His past self and Kokichi’s past self, they weren’t just soulmates, but they’d already been in love.

And Shuichi couldn’t remember any of it. 

As he began sobbing, Himiko dragged Maki, who was rather covered in their chickens’ feathers, in from outside. She awkwardly put a hand on Shuichi’s back and patted him. “Hey, it’s alright… what’s wrong?” She asked, seeming a bit confused by the whole situation. No wonder- judging by the bird seed falling on the table as she sat next to Shuichi, she’d been in the middle of something. 

It was hard for him to compose his thoughts and words enough to talk to her. He simply settled for pushing the booklet and note towards her and Himiko, who was hovering between the two of them. Both of their faces fell quickly. “Th-that’s…”

“Y-yeah,” Shuichi stuttered out. “And… to make matters worse…” He looked down at the grey string hanging limply that only he could see. “My red string has been cut since we got out.” 

He felt arms wrap around him quickly. “...mine too…” Himiko mumbled. “I… I thought it was Tenko, but, with whoever I was before… How can I know for sure?”

Maki shook her head. “Mine isn’t cut, I don’t think, but it’s acting strange. It’s like it’s only there half the time I look at it. I don’t know what it means, but it’s like it can’t decide whether I know my soulmate or not.”

Shuichi’s eyes widened a bit. “Huh-? I’ve never heard of anything like that! I wonder what that could mean.”

She just shrugged. “It’s not important right now, we should focus on finding out who sent you this package. Whoever did, they had to have known the past you, right?”

That made sense but, was that even something Shuichi wanted to find out? Did he want to know more about Ichigo, the lovestruck fool who did everything for a man who was now dead and gone? Would it hurt more, or should he seek out to uncover the truth behind one more death: his past self’s. 

He looked down at the booklet again, opened now to a page covered in recipes for sweets. It was lovingly adorned with hearts and notes about when his “darling Bonbon” liked certain things, like brownies for when he was upset and chocolate covered strawberries to celebrate things. This guy had been so confident in a future full of love that it made him sick. He’d wanted only to be beside the love of his life, and that had been taken from him.

If not for his own sake, Shuichi owed Ichigo the courtesy of pursuing this thread as far as he could. Someone like that didn’t deserve to be entirely erased. 

“I- I agree,” he said to Maki, trying not to shake too bad. “It’s a bit scary, but, I would like to at least know who sent this. Maybe there’s something similar for you guys too… I- I guess this is why we got that phone, right?” 

Himiko went over to the safe. “4869, right?” she called over to Shuichi. He nodded, still a bit embarrassed that was the best he came up with as she twisted the knob a few times until she managed to pry it open. A single smartphone was locked up in there, along with a few legal documents, and its charger, which Himiko plugged into the wall and waited for it to boot back up. 

As it was charging, he flipped through the booklet a bit more, trying not to let himself get overwhelmed. As sweet as it was, it was strange that Ichigo Aoba didn’t include much information about himself aside from his name. It was all about his partner, which could mean one of two things, as far as Shuichi could discern. One possibility was that this was not the entirety of his notes, which was entirely possible, but if so, the letter didn’t make a lot of sense, as it implied the entirety of his notes would be about Botan. 

So, it was far more likely, as he saw it, that Ichigo did not think highly of his past. If he was trying to get money for him, and willing to resort to Danganronpa as a method for that, it seemed likely to him that the two might even have been trying to run away together. So, a shortsighted person not leaving notes about much aside from the person he was running away with made some degree of sense. It was a bit frustrating that he didn’t have more, but it was understandable from that point of view. 

“I found the place!” Himiko exclaimed after a moment, shoving the phone in front of Shuichi and interrupting his thoughts. He squinted at the bright light of the screen until he saw a house marked at that address. Looked like a pretty regular house, if not a bit small, and there were no signs of who lived there. 

There was a clear path forward- to go to that house. To see who it was who sent that to him. They’d not left their little village in quite some time, but it was something all three of them agreed they needed to do. Just to see if it could provide a key to their pasts, or even their futures. Leaving would be scary, of course, but they’d been through too much to just give up for the sake of comfort. 

\----------------

After buying some cassette players with headphones for the train ride and convincing one of Maki’s knitting buddies to housesit while they were gone, they set off to what might or might not be a long trip. It’d be overnight at the very least- the train only ran once a day to the next town over. They had to take a bus to the station, since none of them could drive or even had a car. It all seemed overwhelming after being able to walk everywhere for so long, but the familiar purr of a motor was a bit comforting. 

Himiko slept through most of it, but Shuichi and Maki just stared out the window while on the train, trembling a bit. But, the silence was unbearable and the cassettes weren’t that long, so they found themselves exchanging hushed words as to not awaken their companion. 

“So Kokichi was your soulmate, or at least, the first him was,” Maki questioned softly. “Did you feel anything for him? Or is that too invasive to ask?”

Shuichi sighed, his breath forming fog on the window. “I knew it was him the second I saw my thread was broken, if that’s what you mean,” he admitted. “But, feelings? That’s kind of… well, I’m not sure, really. I felt a fascination from him, and enjoyed his company, but I don’t know if I could call that romantic feelings. Perhaps if I’d not been so preoccupied with… well, with everything… I think it could have become that.”

Maki nodded and turned towards the window herself. “I see. I think I can understand that. Even if I wasn’t fond of him, I can’t deny the two of you had a rapport.” She looked down at her own hand, shaking her head. “It’s flickering in and out again. I… I have a bit of a theory as to what might be going on, if you’d like to hear it?”

“Of course,” Shuichi agreed. Honestly, he’d been curious himself, but found it rude to press on the issue. His curiosity wouldn’t outweigh his concern for his friend’s wellbeing and privacy, and nothing was more deeply personal than a soulmate. He respected Maki too much to let himself speculate. 

“There are two theories, really,” Maki began. “Either, my feelings for Kaito were just scripted, so my body can’t decide whether or not he was my soulmate, or a girl I knew from the orphanage was, and my body can’t decide whether or not she’s real. The former wouldn’t explain why the string is red and not cut when I can see it, but the latter wouldn’t explain why I have it at all if my past was just fiction.”

He found himself gripping the table between him and Maki. The pain Maki was feeling, it was something he struggled with too, but on a whole different level. This was different from being scared to look up if his parents really existed, this was not knowing if anything you felt was ever real at all. 

So, he put a hand on hers. “Maki, even if your friend or feelings are fictional, they’re real to you, aren’t they?” he prompted. “So, that’s what matters. If your soulmate is out there, we’ll find them, okay? And if they aren’t, then me and Himiko can be your soulmates!”

She laughed a little. “Neither of you are really my type-“

“I meant like, platonic soulmates!” He clarified hastily. “If we can make our own life, we can make our own soulmates. We don’t have to be lonely or alone. We have each other.”

Maki nodded and smiled ever so slightly. “You’re right. We aren’t alone. They can’t control us, this is our story to write now.”

A sleepy “nyeh?” came from beside them and Himiko put her hand on the table, tugging her headphones off. “Y-yeah… um… I have an idea,” she mumbled. “Sorry… didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I accidentally turned the volume up I think and it woke me up.”

She pulled on her coat- a bright yellow not unlike that of a certain artist’s. A few threads came loose, and she grabbed Maki’s hand and tied one around her pinky, and then did the same for Shuichi. “There. Now we can be each other’s soulmates.” 

Shuichi was near tears as he took Himiko’s hand and did the same for her. “We aren’t alone,” he repeated. “We make our own fates.” 

The train was almost at the city. From there, they’d find their ways to the house and see what awaited them there, hand in hand in hand. 

**Author's Note:**

> For clarification, this isn't the same universe as my day 1 fic for the white day event, I just used the same names for Kagehara and Bonkichi because I really don't like just giving them the names they have in game. It never feels right to me. But, my general hcs for them are the same, just perhaps if those two weren't dealt quite such a cruel hand. 
> 
> Also, big thanks to Slow and Hina for reading over it ^_^


End file.
